Yarra Family Hotel, north-west corner of Flinders and William Streets.

Champion's Hotel, north-west corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane.On the left, lit up at night for the Melbourne Centenary.

The Federal Hotel, south-west corner of Collins and King Streets.Inside the vestibule below.

The Menzies Hotel, south-east corner of Bourke and William Streets.Inside the dining room below.

Scotts Hotel, Collins Street.

The Australia Hotel, Collins Street, building left in this photograph.

Carlyon's Hotel, south-east corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets.

In 1958 The Oriental Hotel at the east end of Collins Street was well known for being one of the first establishments to introduce alfresco dining to Melbourne.The hotel was demolished in the early 1970s to make way for Collins Place.

In 1853 Archibald and Catherine Menzies opened the first Menzies Hotel in Latrobe Street. Some time later when Archibald had acquired a rich gold mine in Rushworth, he was able in 1867 to finance the second much larger and more luxurious hotel designed by Joseph Reed and Frederick Barnes that stood at the southeast corner of Bourke and William Streets.

In 1896 it was remodeled and enlarged by the addition of two stories. Menzies Hotel was the establishment of first resort for Victoria’s wealthy landed families, the professions and international visitors such as Alexander Graham Bell, Mark Twain and Dame Melba. In 1942 it became the headquarters of the allied Pacific forces under General MacArthur.Menzies Hotel was demolished in 1969 to make way for the corporate headquarters of BHP.

The lounge of the old Menzies Hotel.

The dining room of old Menzies Hotel.____________________________________________________________

The Treasure HouseSome of The Story of Menzies Hotel

Fred ArcherWilke and Company LimitedFirst published in 1970?

Out of print

Fred says:It’s only fair to warn any possible purchaser of this book that it has been rejected by all the leading publishers in Melbourne. Everybody was polite (‘I enjoyed your book Mr Archer”) but its appeal is only to a Melbourne audience. Toorak would love it but we couldn’t possibly make any money out of it.’ Perhaps they are right on both counts, but I didn’t write it either for Toorak or money, I wrote it for my own satisfaction and in the belief that those of us who were in a unique position to record history should do so.

For those interested in what life was like for someone working in this old Melbourne landmark.

Some have had suitable replacements (ie. BHP tower for Menzies hotel, but looking at these internal pics, one can only wonder about the grandeur of the Menzies).
The Royal Mail hotel is a damn site better than the 60s monstrosity that replaced it, and the neighbouring buildings are looking fairly forlorn these days.
Would be nice to see contrast then and now pics of some of these sites.

Awesome work Collector.The Royal Mail hotel is a damn site better than the 60s monstrosity that replaced it, and the neighbouring buildings are looking fairly forlorn these days.

I beg to differ, The Royal Mail Hotel looked rather ordinary to me and The Hitachi Building (for want of a better name) that replaced it, is a fine example of 1960s pop architecture from the front. The rear of the building is another story, the worst in Melbourne and ruins the view north along Swanston Street.
What needs to be done is to have something new built at the same height beside it on Swanston Street to hide its rear. p.s. Some restoration to the front of the Hitachi Building is needed as well.

Champion's Hotel, north-west corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane.On the left, lit up at night for the Melbourne Centenary.

The Federal Hotel, south-west corner of Collins and King Streets._________________________________________________________________________

There's still things that to this day I don't understand..........Why would you demolish something like this to get spirit-less boxes up?City council corruption or lack of common sense?I wonder how these changes were portrayed to the public at the time...

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